He Will Not Forsake His Saints

^[a] Of David.

17 ^(A)“You shall not sacrifice to the Lord your God an ox or a sheep in which is a blemish, any defect whatever, for that is an abomination to the Lord your God.

^2 (B)“If there is found among you, within any of your towns that the Lord your God is giving you, a man or woman who does what is evil in the sight of the Lord your God, ^(C)in transgressing his covenant, ³ and has gone and served other gods and worshiped them, or ^(D)the sun or the moon or any of the host of heaven, ^(E)which I have forbidden, ⁴ and it is told you and you hear of it, then you shall inquire ^(F)diligently, and if it is true and certain that such an abomination has been done in Israel, ⁵ then you shall bring out to your gates that man or woman who has done this evil thing, and you ^(G)shall stone that man or woman to death with stones. ^6 (H)On the evidence of two witnesses or of three witnesses the one who is to die shall be put to death; a person shall not be put to death on the evidence of one witness. ^7 (I)The hand of the witnesses shall be first against him to put him to death, and afterward the hand of all the people. So ^(J)you shall purge^[a] the evil^[b] from your midst.

Legal Decisions by Priests and Judges

⁸ “If any case arises requiring decision between one kind of homicide and another, one kind of legal right and another, or one kind of assault and another, any case within your towns that is too difficult for you, then you shall arise and go up to ^(K)the place that the Lord your God will choose. ^9 (L)And you shall come to the Levitical priests and to the judge who is in office in those days, and you shall consult them, and ^(M)they shall declare to you the decision. ¹⁰ Then you shall do according to what they declare to you from that place that the Lord will choose. And you shall be careful to do according to all that they direct you. ¹¹ According to the instructions that they give you, and according to the decision which they pronounce to you, you shall do. You shall not turn aside from the verdict that they declare to you, either to the right hand or to the left. ¹² The man who ^(N)acts presumptuously by not obeying the priest ^(O)who stands to minister there before the Lord your God, or the judge, that man shall die. So ^(P)you shall purge the evil from Israel. ¹³ And all the people ^(Q)shall hear and fear and not act presumptuously again.

Laws Concerning Israel's Kings

¹⁴ “When you come to the land that the Lord your God is giving you, and you possess it and dwell in it and then say, ^(R)‘I will set a king over me, like all the nations that are around me,’ ¹⁵ you may indeed set a king over you ^(S)whom the Lord your God will choose. One ^(T)from among your brothers you shall set as king over you. You may not put a foreigner over you, who is not your brother. ¹⁶ Only he must not acquire many ^(U)horses for himself or cause the people ^(V)to return to Egypt in order to acquire many horses, since the Lord has said to you, ^(W)‘You shall never return that way again.’ ¹⁷ And he ^(X)shall not acquire many wives for himself, lest his heart turn away, ^(Y)nor shall he acquire for himself excessive silver and gold.

¹⁸ “And when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, ^(Z)he shall write for himself in a book a copy of this law, ^(AA)approved by^[c] the Levitical priests. ¹⁹ And ^(AB)it shall be with him, and he shall read in it all the days of his life, ^(AC)that he may learn to fear the Lord his God by keeping all the words of this law and these statutes, and doing them, ²⁰ that his heart may not be lifted up above his brothers, and that he ^(AD)may not turn aside from the commandment, either to the right hand or to the left, ^(AE)so that he may continue long in his kingdom, he and his children, in Israel.

Peter Confesses Jesus as the Christ

^18 (A)Now it happened that as he was praying alone, the disciples were with him. And he asked them, “Who do the crowds say that I am?” ¹⁹ And they answered, ^(B)“John the Baptist. But others say, ^(C)Elijah, and others, that one of the prophets of old has risen.” ²⁰ Then he said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” And Peter answered, ^(D)“The Christ of God.”

Jesus Foretells His Death

^21 (E)And he strictly charged and commanded them to tell this to no one, ^22 (F)saying, ^(G)“The Son of Man must ^(H)suffer many things and ^(I)be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on ^(J)the third day be raised.”

Take Up Your Cross and Follow Jesus

²³ And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him ^(K)deny himself and ^(L)take up his cross ^(M)daily and follow me. ²⁴ For ^(N)whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. ^25 (O)For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself? ²⁶ For ^(P)whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed ^(Q)when he comes in ^(R)his glory and the glory of the Father and of ^(S)the holy angels. ²⁷ But I tell you truly, there are some standing here who will not ^(T)taste death ^(U)until they see the kingdom of God.”

The Transfiguration

^28 (V)Now about eight days after these sayings he took with him ^(W)Peter and John and James and ^(X)went up on the mountain to pray. ²⁹ And as he was praying, the appearance of his face was ^(Y)altered, and ^(Z)his clothing became dazzling white. ³⁰ And behold, two men were talking with him, Moses and Elijah, ³¹ who appeared in glory and spoke of his departure,^[a] which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. ³² Now Peter and those who were with him ^(AA)were heavy with sleep, but when they became fully awake ^(AB)they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him. ³³ And as the men were parting from him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good that we are here. Let us make three ^(AC)tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah”—^(AD)not knowing what he said. ³⁴ As he was saying these things, ^(AE)a cloud came and overshadowed them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud. ³⁵ And ^(AF)a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, ^(AG)my Chosen One;^{[b] (AH)}listen to him!” ³⁶ And when the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. ^(AI)And they kept silent and told no one in those days anything of what they had seen.

Jesus Heals a Boy with an Unclean Spirit

^37 (AJ)On the next day, when they had come down from the mountain, a great crowd met him. ³⁸ And behold, a man from the crowd cried out, “Teacher, I beg you to look at my son, for ^(AK)he is my only child. ³⁹ And behold, a spirit seizes him, and he suddenly cries out. It convulses him so that he foams at the mouth, and shatters him, and will hardly leave him. ⁴⁰ And I begged your disciples to cast it out, but ^(AL)they could not.” ⁴¹ Jesus answered, “O ^(AM)faithless and twisted generation, ^(AN)how long am I to be with you and bear with you? Bring your son here.” ⁴² While he was coming, the demon threw him to the ground and convulsed him. But Jesus ^(AO)rebuked the unclean spirit and healed the boy, and ^(AP)gave him back to his father. ⁴³ And all were astonished at ^(AQ)the majesty of God.

Jesus Again Foretells His Death

^(AR)But while they were all marveling at everything he was doing, Jesus^[c] said ^(AS)to his disciples, ⁴⁴ “Let these words sink into your ears: ^(AT)The Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men.” ^45 (AU)But they did not understand this saying, and ^(AV)it was concealed from them, so that they might not perceive it. And they were afraid to ask him about this saying.

Who Is the Greatest?

^46 (AW)An argument arose among them as to which of them was the greatest. ⁴⁷ But Jesus, knowing the reasoning of their hearts, took a child and put him by his side ⁴⁸ and said to them, ^(AX)“Whoever receives this child in my name receives me, and ^(AY)whoever receives me receives him who sent me. For ^(AZ)he who is least among you all is the one who is great.”

Anyone Not Against Us Is For Us

^49 (BA)John answered, “Master, we saw someone ^(BB)casting out demons in your name, and ^(BC)we tried to stop him, because he does not follow with us.” ⁵⁰ But Jesus said to him, “Do not stop him, ^(BD)for the one who is not against you is for you.”